120,000 threshold for new operators
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Prospective hauliers should have access to at least £20,000 before being allowed into the industry, according to the managing director of the Reed Boardall Group.
Keith Boardall was responding to the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee's inquiry last week into the problem of over-capacity within the road haulage industry.
Boardall told Gwyneth Dunwoody, committee chair and MP for Crewe: "We should increase the entry costs to the industry. If a new haulier has to show greater financial resources, say a £20,000 facil ity, that would increase the entry costs land deter prospective hauliers]."
Last October the financial threshold for entry was more than doubled, to £6,000 tor the first truck and £3,300 for subsequent vehicles. Before that the entry requirement was £2.500 a vehicle.
The issue of financial repute will become even more relevant next October when all hauliers. not just prospective ones, will have to show that they have ready access to these funds. A haulier with, for example, 10 trucks will need access to more than 135,000.